Cece Frey performs on Wednesday's 'X Factor.' / Ray Mickshaw, Fox

by Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY

by Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY

But before they were announced, Melanie Amaro, winner of the 2011 season of X Factor, returned to the stage to get things rolling. The singer, 20, who got a $5 million recording contract during the show's debut season, has yet to release her album, she told MTV today. Truly will arrive in early 2013. Amaro's new single, Long Distance, is out now.

And then it was time to find out who was being sent home. The first act to go was ...

Cece Frey!

Cece wasn't weepy. In typical Cece fashion, she was sassy and defiant, as Simon Cowell called her on Wednesday. Looking straight into the camera, she said, "I'm very proud of everything that I've done on this show. I'm ready to leave it with this entire platform that I have acquired for myself. And I hope that I taught everybody at home that you need to love who you are, because the more you love who you are, the less you're going to need anybody else to."

Take that, haters!

Demi Lovato, who sported the same face paint as Cece, got choked up because she's grown so close to Cece. "I'm just so proud of you," Demi told Cece, and they hugged. "It's OK," Cece told Demi. "This has been an incredible experience. Thank you."

The exit means Demi has no acts left. She will still judge, but has no one else to mentor.

Then the acts definitely moving through to the semifinals were announced: Emblem3, Carly Rose Sonenclar and Tate Stevens. (No surprises there, right?)

Singing for survival: Diamond White and Fifth Harmony.

While they got ready to perform, Ke$ha sang C'mon.

Then Fifth Harmony tackled Mariah Carey's Anytime You Need A Friend.

And Diamond White, described by Britney as "the girl next door who sings like an angel," belted out Lee Ann Womack's I Hope You Dance.